Fishing poles have been provided with a coil spring formed in the fishing rod of the pole in a configuration that uses the coil spring as a fishing line guide, as provided in U.S. Patent Applications Publication Nos. 2005/0005499, published Jan. 13, 2005 and entitled “Fishing Rod”, and 2005/0055865, published Mar. 17, 2005 and entitled “Fishing Rod Connector and Connector Assemblies for Fishing Poles”, herein incorporated by reference.
Such fishing poles have a rod that is formed from a metal wire or rod that includes a coil spring that is formed into the body of the rod. The spring allows the rod to laterally flex for better casting and for retrieving a fish. Different rod diameters and coil designs allow the angler to have the ability to have various feels while using one handle. The coil also allows the rod to be relatively shorter than traditional rods and portable and still function comparably to a longer 6 to 7-foot standard sized rod. Such coil springs are formed from a continuous winding of spring steel comprising a plurality of helical coils with an open proximal end winding and an open distal end winding. However, with the use of a coil comes the problem of the fishing line becoming wrapped up in the coils when casting out line, as well as when reeling in line.
Such open end windings create a problem when the coil is also used as a line guide in that the line can helically wind around the coil, particularly when the pole is used with a spinning reel which tends to circumferentially rotate the line within the coil. Such problem even occurs when the helical coils are formed in intimate nested relationships, with no measurable-sized gaps between adjacent coils. More particularly, the coil spring is bent or flexed when loaded during casting or retrieving a fish, which further opens up the open proximal end winding and the open distal end winding. Hence, fishing line can still helically wind around the coil as it is guided through the coil spring, causing the line to twist and tangle within the coil spring. Accordingly, improvements are needed to prevent such helical winding of fishing line when received through a coil spring used as a fishing line guide on a fishing rod of a fishing pole.